Written by Anna Caprile and Cristina Cirlig.
In response to Russia’s illegal and unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the European Union swiftly adopted unprecedentedly tough sanctions, in close cooperation with partners including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Japan. The rapid succession of 15 packages of EU sanctions adopted since then have resulted in an unparalleled set of measures targeting Russian political elites and key sectors of the Russian economy. New sanctions have also been adopted against Belarus, Iran and North Korea in response to their involvement in Russia’s war of aggression. Furthermore, in 2024 the EU adopted two new regimes of sanctions, addressing human rights violations and repression in Russia (May 2024), and responding to Russia’s destabilising activities (‘hybrid attacks’) abroad (October 2024).
The unprecedented nature of the sanctions imposed on Russia, in scale and scope, has created new implementation challenges. Member States and EU institutions have renewed efforts to improve the enforcement of sanctions and to close loopholes to prevent circumvention, including reinforcing cooperation with third countries. A specific anti-circumvention tool was included in the 11th package of sanctions (June 2023), followed by additional measures in the successive packages, including those to counter Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’. Furthermore, a newly adopted EU directive (April 2024) obliges the EU Member States to introduce minimum criminal offences and penalties for violating and circumventing EU sanctions. It also aims to improve cross-border cooperation on investigations, prosecutions and sentencing of EU sanctions violations.
Since Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol in 2014, the European Parliament has been a vocal advocate of severe sanctions. It has unequivocally condemned Russia’s unjustified aggression against Ukraine, demanded broader and better-enforced sanctions and called for the confiscation of Russian assets frozen by the EU to pay for Ukraine’s reconstruction. Parliament has demanded a full review of more centralised EU-level oversight of sanctions implementation and a full ban on liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, among other measures.
This briefing updates and complements a previous briefing published in September 2023.
Read the complete briefing on ‘EU sanctions against Russia 2025: State of play, perspectives and challenges‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.
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